[Federal Register: April 14, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 71)]
[Notices]
[Page 18543-18546]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14ap99-129]
[[Page 18543]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part VI
Department of Education
_______________________________________________________________________
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Programs; Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year 1999; Notices
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education--Safe and Drug-Free
Schools and Communities National Programs; Federal Activities Grant
Program--Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program
Coordinators
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of final priority and selection criteria for Fiscal Year
1999 and subsequent years.
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SUMMARY: The Secretary announces the final priority and selection
criteria for fiscal year (FY) 1999, and at the discretion of the
Secretary for subsequent years, under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools
and Communities (SDFSC) National Programs Federal Activities Grants
Program for the Middle School Drug Prevention and School Safety Program
Coordinators competition. The Secretary takes this action to focus
Federal financial assistance on national needs to recruit, hire, and
train drug prevention and school safety program coordinators for middle
schools with significant drug, discipline and violence problems.
EFFECTIVE DATE: This priority takes effect on April 14, 1999.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this
priority under the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities National
Programs Federal Activities Grants Program, contact the Safe and Drug-
Free Schools Program, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland
Avenue, SW., Room 3E324, Washington, DC 20202-6123. Telephone: (202)
260-3954. FAX: (202) 260-7767. Internet: http://www.ed.gov/offices/
OESE/SDFS.
Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD)
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339
between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g. Braille, large print, audio tape, or computer
diskette) upon request to the contact office listed above. Individuals
with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application package in an
alternative format, also, by contacting that office. However, the
Department is not able to reproduce in an alternate format the standard
forms included in the application package.
Note: This notice of final priority does not solicit
applications. A notice inviting applications under this competition
is published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice contains the final priority and
selection criteria for FY 1999, and at the discretion of the Secretary,
subsequent years. Under the absolute priority (Middle School Drug
Prevention and School Safety Program Coordinators (CFDA 84.184K)), the
Secretary may make awards for up to 36 months to local educational
agencies.
In making awards under this grant program, the Secretary may take
into consideration the geographic distribution and the diversity of
proposed activities addressed by the projects, in addition to the rank
order of applicants.
Contingent upon the availability of funds, the Secretary may make
additional awards in FY 2000 from the rank-ordered list of unfunded
applications from this competition.
Definitions
The following definitions apply to this competition:
(a) Middle schools are defined as any school serving students in
two or more grades from grades five through nine.
Note: Students in grades lower than five or higher than nine are
not eligible to be served under this priority.
(b) Local education agencies (LEAs) with the most significant
problems in their middle schools are defined as those that have
identified drug use, drug prevention and school safety as serious
problems in their most recent needs assessment and have taken one or
more of the following actions within the 12 months preceding the date
of this announcement:
(1) Suspended, expelled, or transferred to alternative schools or
programs at least one middle school student for possession,
distribution, or use of alcohol or drugs, including tobacco;
(2) Referred for treatment of substance abuse at least five middle
school students;
(3) Suspended, expelled, or transferred to alternative schools or
programs at least one middle school student for possession or use of a
firearm or other weapon;
(4) Suspended, expelled or transferred to alternative schools or
programs at least five middle school students for physical attacks or
fights.
Applications for this competition must be received at the address
specified in the notice inviting applications for this competition no
later than 4:30 p.m. on June 1, 1999. Applications received after that
time will not be eligible for funding. Postmarked dates will not be
accepted.
Absolute Priority
Under 34 CFR 75.105(c)(3) and the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and
Communities Act, the Secretary gives an absolute preference to
applications that meet the following priority. The Secretary funds
under this competition only applications that meet this absolute
priority.
Under the absolute funding priority for this grant competition,
LEAs with significant drug, discipline, or school safety problems in
their middle schools must propose projects that--
(a) Recruit, hire, and train full-time drug prevention and school
safety program coordinator(s) for their middle schools with the most
significant drug, discipline, or school safety problems;
(c) Require coordinators hired with funds under this priority to
perform at least the following functions in one or more middle schools
with significant drug, discipline or school safety problems:
(1) Identify research-based drug and violence prevention strategies
and programs;
(2) Assist schools in adopting the most successful strategies,
including training of teachers, staff and relevant partners as, as
needed;
(3) Develop, conduct, and analyze assessments of school crime and
drug problems;
(4) Work with community agencies and organizations to ensure that
students' needs are met;
(5) Work with parents and students to obtain information about
effective programs and strategies and encourage their participation in
program selection and implementation;
(6) Assist in the development and implementation of evaluation
strategies;
(7) Identify additional funding sources for drug prevention and
school safety program initiatives;
(8) Provide feedback to SEAs on programs and activities that have
proven to be successful in reducing drug use and violent behavior; and
(9) Coordinate with student assistance and employee assistance
programs.
Local educational agencies may apply for funding under this
priority to hire one or more coordinators to serve middle schools in
the district. Each coordinator hired with funds from this grant must:
(1) Serve at least one middle school but no more than seven middle
schools;
(2) Serve only students in two or more grades from grades five
through nine;
Note: Students in grades lower than five or higher than nine are
not eligible to be served under this priority.
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(3) Have no duties other than coordination of drug prevention or
school safety programs;
(4) At a minimum, have a degree from an accredited four-year
institution of higher education and an academic background or
equivalent work experience in a field related to youth development,
such as education, psychology, sociology, social work, or nursing.
LEAs may apply in consortia with one or more adjacent LEAs;
however, each participating LEA must ensure that all requirements of
the priority for this competition are met.
The Secretary funds under this competition only applications that
meet this absolute priority.
Selection Criteria
The following selection criteria will be used to evaluate
applications for new grants under this competition. The maximum score
for all of these criteria is 100 points.
(1) Need for the project. (25 points)
(a) Applicants must:
(i) Describe the drug, violence, or safety problems in middle
schools that will be served by coordinators(s) funded by these grants;
(ii) Provide data on the number of students in grades five through
nine who were suspended, expelled or transferred to alternative
settings for drug use or violent behavior during the 12 months
preceding the date of this announcement;
(iii) Explain how the coordinator(s) will make a difference in the
drug, violence and safety problems at the middle schools to be served
by this initiative; and
(iv) Describe how the position funded by this grant will be
coordinated with existing prevention programs and staff.
(b) In determining the need for the proposed project, the following
factor is considered:
The extent to which specific gaps or weaknesses in services,
infrastructure, or opportunities have been identified and will be
addressed by the proposed project, including the nature and magnitude
of those gaps or weaknesses.
(2) Quality of the project design. (25 points)
(a) Applicants must:
(i) Provide a detailed description of their plan for bringing about
change in the type and quality of drug prevention and school safety
programs for students in grades five through nine; and
(ii) Describe how the community will be involved in designing and
supporting these programs.
(b) The following factors are considered in determining the quality
of the project design:
(i) The extent to which the design of the proposed project is
appropriate to, and will successfully address, the needs of the target
population;
(ii) The extent to which the proposed project is designed to build
capacity and yield results that will extend beyond the period of
Federal financial assistance;
(iii) The extent to which the proposed project will establish
linkages with other appropriate agencies and organizations providing
services to the target population, including community coalitions;
(iv) The extent to which the proposed project encourages parental
involvement; and
(v) The extent to which performance feedback and continuous
improvement are integral to the design of the proposed project.
(3) Adequacy of Resources (25 points)
(a) Applicants must:
(i) Describe their plan for supporting and institutionalizing the
coordinator position into the district's permanent staffing structure,
including how they will ensure its continuation when Federal funding
ends;
(ii) Explain how this coordinator position will be integrated into
the staffing structure of the district as a whole, including where the
coordinator will be housed and to whom the coordinator will report;
(iii) Explain the district's plan to support the authority of the
coordinator to design, select and implement prevention initiatives; and
(iv) Explain how information developed by coordinators will be used
by LEA policy makers.
(b) Factors considered in determining the adequacy of resources
are:
(i) The adequacy of support, including facilities, equipment,
supplies, and other resources from the applicant organization or the
lead applicant organization;
(ii) The extent to which the costs are reasonable in relation to
the number of persons to be served and to the anticipated results and
benefits;
(iii) The potential for continued support of the project after
Federal funding ends, including, as appropriate, the demonstrated
commitment of appropriate entities to such support; and
(iv) The potential for the incorporation of project purposes,
activities, or benefits into the ongoing program of the agency or
organization at the end of Federal funding.
(4) Quality of the project evaluation (25 points)
(a) Applicants must:
(i) Provide a detailed description of their plan to evaluate
implementation of the coordinator initiative with particular attention
to how prevention strategies have changed as a result of the
coordinator's efforts and the effects on student outcomes; and
(ii) Agree to cooperate with the national evaluation of the
coordinators' initiative that will be funded by the Department of
Education.
(b) In determining the quality of the project evaluation, the
following factors are considered:
(i) The extent to which the methods of evaluation are appropriate
to the context within which the project operates;
(ii) The extent to which the methods of evaluation provide for
examining the effectiveness of project implementation strategies; and
(iii) The extent to which the methods of evaluation will provide
performance feedback and permit periodic assessment of progress toward
achieving intended outcomes.
Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking
It is the Secretary's practice, in accordance with the
Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), to offer interested
parties the opportunity to comment on proposed rules. Section 437
(d)(1) of the General Education Provision Act (GEPA), however, exempts
from this requirement rules that apply to the first competition under a
new or substantially revised program. Funding was provided for this new
initiative in the fiscal year 1999 appropriations act enacted October
21, 1998. The Secretary, in accordance with section 437 (d)(1) of GEPA,
has decided to forego public comment in order to ensure timely grant
awards.
Intergovernmental Review
This program is subject to the requirements of Executive Order
12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. The objective of the
Executive Order is to foster an intergovernmental partnership and a
strengthened federalism by relying on processes developed by State and
local government for coordination and review of proposed Federal
financial assistance.
In accordance with this order, this document is intended to provide
early notification of the Department's specific plans and actions for
this program.
Electronic Access to This Document
Department of Education documents are published in the Federal
Register, in text or portable document format (PDF) on the world wide
web at either of the following sites:
http://www.ocfo.ed.gov/fedreg.html or http://www.ed.gov/news.html.
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To use pdf you must have the Adobe Acrobat Reader Program with
Search, which is available free at either of the preceding sites. If
you have questions about using the pdf, call the U.S. Government
Printing Office toll free at 1-888-293-6498.
Individuals may view these documents in text copy only on an
electronic bulletin board of the Department. The documents are located
under Option G--Files/Announcement, Bulletins and Press Releases.
Telephone: (202) 219-1511 or, toll free, 1-800-222-4922.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 7131.
(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Number 84.184K, Safe and
Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act National Programs--Federal
Activities Grants Program)
Judith Johnson,
Acting/Assistant Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary
Education.
[FR Doc. 99-9341 Filed 4-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-U